By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite set to outperform on the back of a dovish Federal Reserve and positive earnings reports from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 155 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 Futures traded 28 points, or 0.7%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 130 points, or 1%.
Apple delivered a blowout first quarter late Wednesday, sending its stock up 2.7% premarket, with sales jumping 54% fueled by 5G iPhone upgrades and the company adding that it would increase its existing share buyback program by $90 billion.
Facebook also beat Wall Street expectations for both quarterly revenue and profit on Wednesday, prompting gains of over 7% premarket, helped by a surge in digital ad spending during the pandemic when consumers shopped online, along with higher ad prices.
Thursday will be the busiest day of the earnings season, with roughly 11% of the S&P 500 scheduled to provide quarterly updates. Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Merck are among the names on deck before the market opens, with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) the star after the market closes.
The cruise operators will also be in focus Thursday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late Wednesday that cruising could restart in American waters by mid-summer if 98% of crew and 95% of passengers were fully vaccinated.
The Federal Reserve upgraded its view of the economy and held its line that any near-term inflation rises will be temporary, while keeping rates near zero and asset purchases steady as it concluded its latest meeting on Wednesday.
Additionally, U.S. President Joe Biden used his first joint address to Congress to outline his new $1.8 trillion plan aimed toward children and families while proposing raised taxes on corporations and rich Americans.
Turning to economic data, in addition to the weekly data on jobless claims, Thursday brings us the first quarter GDP number, at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT), which is expected to show growth of 6.1% on a yearly basis after growing 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020, fueled by unprecedented monetary policy support and fiscal stimulus.
Oil prices traded higher Thursday, climbing to their highest in seven weeks, supported by loose monetary policy and a cheaper dollar, as well as a smaller-than-expected rise in U.S. crude stockpiles last week.
U.S. crude futures traded 1.4% higher at $64.77 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.5% to $67.76.
U.S. inventories rose by 90,000 barrels last week, according to data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, much smaller than forecasts for a 659,000-barrel build and the previous week’s 594,000-barrel build.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,774.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded flat at 1.2121.